AC/DC co-founder Malcolm Young dead at 64

A March 3, 2003 file photo of AC/DC co-founder and guitarist Malcolm Young at an event in London. The band has announced, Saturday Nov. 18, 2017, that 64-year-old Young has died. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)Yui Mok / AP

NEW YORK — Malcolm Young, the rhythm guitarist and guiding force behind the bawdy hard rock band AC/DC who helped create such head-banging anthems as “Highway to Hell,” ”Hells Bells“ and Back in Black, has died. He was 64.

AC/DC announced the death Saturday on their official Facebook page and website. A representative for the band confirmed that the posts were true. The posts did not say when or where Young died, but said the performer had been suffering from dementia. He was diagnosed in 2014.

“It is with deepest sorrow that we inform you of the death of Malcolm Young, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother. Malcolm had been suffering from Dementia for several years and passed away peacefully with his family by his bedside,” one of the posts read.

The family put out a statement posted on the band’s website calling Young a “visionary who inspired many.”

While Young’s younger brother, Angus, the group’s school-uniform-wearing lead guitarist, was the public face of the band, Malcolm Young was its key writer and leader, the member the rest of the band watched for onstage changes and cutoffs.

AC/DC were remarkably consistent for over 40 years with its mix of driving hard rock, lusty lyrics and bluesy shuffles, selling over 200 million albums, surviving the loss of its first singer and creating one of the greatest rock records ever in Back in Black, the world’s second bestselling album behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 2003. Greg Harris, the president & CEO, issued a statement Saturday that said, “We salute you, Malcom Young. Your blistering guitar shook generations and united us with sonic anthems that will ring forever.”

Several musicians also paid their respects to Young on social media, writing about his influence and impact in music.

It is a sad day in rock and roll. Malcolm Young was my friend and the heart and soul of AC/DC. I had some of the best times of my life with him on our 1984 European tour. He will be missed and my deepest condolences to his family, bandmates and friends.

“It is a sad day in rock and roll. Malcolm Young was my friend and the heart and soul of AC/DC. I had some of the best times of my life with him on our 1984 European tour,” Eddie Van Halen tweeted on Saturday. “He will be missed and my deepest condolences to his family, bandmates and friends.”

“The driving engine of AC/DC has died. A tragic end for a sometimes unsung icon. One of the true greats. RIP,” Paul Stanley, of Kiss, wrote on Twitter.

The driving engine of AC/DC has died.A tragic end for a sometimes unsung icon. One of the true greats. RIP. https://t.co/cJe1Xr17IA

Mike Portnoy, co-founder of Dream Theater, called him “one of the great rhythm guitar players of all time.”

Wow…just got off stage here in Brisbane Australia (of all places) to the shocking news of Malcolm Young's passing. So sad…one of the great rhythm guitar players of all time. (James Hetfield and Scott Ian would be the 1st to say so themselves…) #RIPMalcolmYoungpic.twitter.com/qZXHIMpktF

The Glasgow-born Young brothers — who moved to Sydney, Australia, with their parents, sister and five older brothers in 1963 — formed the band in 1973. They were inspired to choose the high-energy name AC/DC from the back of a sewing machine owned by their sister, Margaret.

Angus experimented with several different stage costumes at first — including a gorilla suit and a Zorro outfit — but the school uniform was a natural, since he was only 16 at the time.

The Youngs went through several drummers and bass guitarists, finally settling on Phil Rudd on drums in 1974 and Englishman Cliff Williams on bass three years later. Their original singer was fired after a few months when they discovered Bon Scott, who was originally hired as the band’s driver.

By 1980, the band was on a roll, known for its high energy performances and predictably hard-charging songs. Their album Highway To Hell was certified gold in America and made it into the top 25 Billboard album charts, and the single Touch Too Much became their first U.K. Top 30 hit. But on Feb. 18, 1980, everything changed — Scott died of asphyxiation after choking on his own vomit after an all-night drinking binge.

The band decided to keep going and hired English vocalist Brian Johnson at the helm. The newly reconfigured group channelled their grief into songwriting and put out 1980’s Back In Black, with the songs You Shook Me All Night Long, Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution and Hells Bells. The cover of the album was black, in honour of Scott’s death.

The band continued with a studio or live album every few years , blending their huge guitar riffs with rebellious and often sophomoric lyrics — song titles include Big Balls, Beating Around the Bush, Let Me Put My Love Into You and Stiff Upper Lip. AC/DC won only a single Grammy Award, for best hard rock performance in 2009 for War Machine.

Rolling Stone said in 1980 that “the AC/DC sound is nothing more and nothing less than aggressively catchy song hooks brutalized by a revved-up boogie rhythm, Malcolm’s jackhammer riffing, Angus’ guitar histrionics and Johnson’s bloodcurdling bawl.”

In the book The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC by Jesse Fink, Angus Young said the formula worked. “We’ve got the basic thing kids want,” he said. “They want to rock and that’s it. They want to be part of the band as a mass. When you hit a guitar chord, a lot of the kids in the audience are hitting it with you. They’re so much into the band they’re going through all the motions with you. If you can get the mass to react as a whole, then that’s the ideal thing. That’s what a lot of bands lack, and why the critics are wrong.”

AC/DC’s infectious, driving sound stretched further than rock arenas. The song Shoot to Thrill was heard in the film The Avengers, Back in Black made it into The Muppets, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was played in Bridesmaids and their songs were included in the Iron Man franchise. On TV, the band’s music was heard in everything from Top Gear, the Hawaii Five-0 reboot, Glee, CSI: Miami and The Voice.

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